agodfrin

Q: Syncing notes between a mac and another mac ?

I am using notes on my MacBook, as well as my iPhone and iPad. They all sync just fine in all directions.

 

I also share my notes with my wife. She has a MacBook Air, an iPhone and an iPad too. To do that I have added my iCloud account to her devices and use it to share my iCloud calendars and notes.

 

The calendars all sync fine.

 

Notes were syncing fine too - up until some time last year - something like mid-october. Since that time, notes no longer sync. She still sees the notes the way they were at that time. Notes I have added since do not appear. Notes that I have updated since still show up with the old content.  For example, I see a note on my Mac (and iPhone and iPad) with an update date of November 11, 2015. But other Mac, iPhone and iPad, that same note comes with an update date from October 8, 2015 (and the content is different - not the same as what I have).

 

I checked the notes in iCloud. They are all OK: meaning the syncing works fine for my own devices.

 

But somehow my wife's devices seem to pick up an older version ? I tried disconnecting her devices from my iCloud account. The notes then obviously disappear. I then reconnect my iCloud account on her devices. Notes reappear. But still with their old versions.

 

Does anyone have any idea what could cause this ?

 

Thanks

MacBook Pro, OS X El Capitan (10.11.4)

Posted on Mar 27, 2016 3:14 AM

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Q: Syncing notes between a mac and another mac ?

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  • Helpful answers

  • by Eric Root,

    Eric Root Eric Root Mar 27, 2016 8:21 AM in response to agodfrin
    Level 9 (69,991 points)
    iTunes
    Mar 27, 2016 8:21 AM in response to agodfrin

    What OS and IOS version is your wife using? If you are running El Capitan and IOS 9.X and in Notes you selected the iCloud upgrade, then they will no longer sync with a computer not using El Capitan and IOS 9.X which doesn't have the option to upgrade Notes iCloud.

  • by agodfrin,

    agodfrin agodfrin Mar 27, 2016 9:12 AM in response to Eric Root
    Level 1 (13 points)
    Mac OS X
    Mar 27, 2016 9:12 AM in response to Eric Root

    She runs El Capitan and iOS 9.2. Same for me (except I just upgraded my devices to IOS 9.3).

     

    Now that you mention it I remember vaguely about some notes upgrade. I guess I did that on my side, but my wife did not.

    How can she do that ?

     

    Thanks, Eric

  • by agodfrin,

    agodfrin agodfrin Mar 27, 2016 2:34 PM in response to Eric Root
    Level 1 (13 points)
    Mac OS X
    Mar 27, 2016 2:34 PM in response to Eric Root

    I think I found the answer in this note that talks about the new notes features with iOS 9 and El Capitan: Upgrade your notes with iOS 9 and OS X El Capitan - Apple Support 

     

    In that note I see this: 

    • If you’re signed in to more than one iCloud Mail account on your iOS device or Mac and have notes syncing turned on, you can only use the new Notes features with your primary iCloud account. You can see your primary account in Settings > iCloud, or System Preferences > iCloud.

     

    That is our case. My wife's devices access my notes via a "secondary" notes connection. And the paragraph above essentially says that syncing via that secondary iCloud account won't work. I know the note only talks about new features (some new formatting capabilities) ... But that is not true. I don't use any formatting in my notes. Just plain text. But they still don't sync.

     

    I never cease to wonder at Apple's endless capacity of removing useful functionlaity.

  • by Eric Root,

    Eric Root Eric Root Mar 28, 2016 8:18 AM in response to agodfrin
    Level 9 (69,991 points)
    iTunes
    Mar 28, 2016 8:18 AM in response to agodfrin

    Send Apple feedback. They won't answer, but at least will know there is a problem. If enough people send feedback, it may get the problem solved sooner.

     

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